Felix Klein, Germany’s special representative for relations with Jewish organizations, is in Washington this week to meet with Jewish groups and Obama administration officials over American concerns about a spike in anti-Semitism in Germany during the recent Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip.Many of the offenders were Muslims, and many of those were members of Germany’s substantial Turkish minority.

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He said the money for such an initiative would come from Germany’s Interior Ministry and its Ministry for Families, Youth and the Elderly, as well as from regional governments.Klein met State Department officials who deal with anti-Semitism and Holocaust issues as well as with officials of the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League and B’nai B’rith International.

Congratulations to Kayla Trinh of Clarksburg High Schooland David Ng of Damascus High School, who were awarded first place in the 2013-14 Washington, D.C. Diverse Minds Youth Writing Challenge.

Their winning book, "Cake Kingdom," embodies the purpose of the challenge: promoting tolerance and communicating a message of equality among all citizens, regardless of race, religion, national origin, gender or sexual orientation.

The end result was an appetizing story of pastries that put aside differences in order to live in harmony. For their efforts, Trinh and Ng will share a $5,000 college scholarship and become published authors with their first official book signing at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery in downtown D.C.